What better way to spend a Friday than spending a few minutes with Tara and Simon as they wrap up their RAGBRAI trip. Read on to find out the unexpected joys they encountered, lessons they learned through the week, and their pondering of the question– would we do it again?
RAGBRAI is a sprawling event with more than 10,000 riders criss-crossing the state of Iowa over seven consecutive days of riding. Today’s post features Tara’s observations about some of the other RAGBRAI riders as well as unexpected issues that Simon and she confronted.
Continue reading “Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 3 of 4: Other Riders and Unexpected Challenges”
What is it like to be a rider on RAGBRAI, the largest cross-state bike ride in the country? Tara takes us there with her vivid recount.
The Ride
Continue reading “Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 2 of 4: The Ride”
Every year in the final full week of July, thousands and thousands of people participate in the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), a west to east ride through the state from the Missouri River to the shore of the Mississippi.
As many readers know, Iowa is my home state. Growing up RAGBRAI intrigued me, in part because it seemed a long way to ride one’s bike, and also because of the numbers of people who wanted to spend their free time passing through small Iowa towns like mine.
When I learned that Tara and Simon of Wheaton, Maryland– touring cyclists, coffeeneurs, and regular readers of this blog– were doing this year’s edition of RAGBRAI, I asked if they would be willing to put a report together capturing their experience.
They agreed, and Tara penned a fantastic story (thank you, Tara!!), which I’m featuring over four posts. Today, we kick off with Part 1: Why Iowa.
Continue reading “Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 1 of 4: Why Iowa?”
This week, Girl on a Bike invited people to post their favorite cycling memory to her blog. Prize for posting? A chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Revolution Cycles. (See here for her writeup and contest).
Her post prompted me to dig into my bicycle memory bank. As I thought back, my first time riding RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) entered my head. Thanks, Girl on a Bike, for the opportunity to reminisce!
One of my many favorite cycling memories is of my first time riding across my home state via RAGBRAI. Continue reading “Cycling Memories: RAGBRAI”
